Apple held its keynote speech just now, kicking off its developer conference. The company announced minor refreshes for its laptop line, introduced a stunning new laptop with a Retina display, and gave a sneak peek of iOS 6, which will launch in the Fall.

Most wireless routers and high-speed modems require a hard-wired connection to configure them. I guess this means that you'll have to make a trip to the Apple store and pony up $29 just for the ability to configure these devices. Also, I prefer to perform financial transactions over a wired connection. I use a strong WPA2 password for my wireless router, but I feel better knowing that the ciphertext can't be sniffed over the air with a physical connection.

Besides, what do you have against "carrying an ethernet port"? You make it sound like they're a separate, bulky item that takes up extra space and adds unnecessary weight.

Finally, the elimination of the 17-inch model guarantees that I won't be using one of these to replace my current MacBook Pro.

Well, you've got a few points there. Although regarding routers/modems, I assume most people have a regular desktop around and a laptop being a second system.

Having an ethernet port is convenient, but if most people don't it does it make sense to have one? Having a floppy drive can sometimes be convenient too, but most people would never or seldom use it, I use a USB floppy drive for the rare occasion.

I do think the Pro models should have one, because they're expensive anyway and might as well offer extra options over the non-Pro models.

Well, you've got a few points there. Although regarding routers/modems, I assume most people have a regular desktop around and a laptop being a second system.

I don't know if it's a safe assumption to make nowadays. Most uni students I know only keep a (relatively large) laptop around nowadays, because buying both a full desktop AND a laptop is quite an investment, and because laptops fit a nomadic lifestyle better (less stuff to carry around when you change flats).

An Ethernet port would be most probably physically too big to fit on a 0.7" thick laptop. Should we keep forever thicker laptops just in case we need a wired connection and do not want to spend $29 on an adapter?

Besides, what do you have against "carrying an ethernet port"? You make it sound like they're a separate, bulky item that takes up extra space and adds unnecessary weight.

Yes, yes it does take up space. We have been at the stage where the thinness of a laptop is dictated by an ethernet port (or, even worse in the case of most Windows laptops, a VGA port) for some time now. Apple just changed that.

Do you own a smartphone or tablet? Do you feel like it needs to have an ethernet port?

Yes, yes it does take up space. We have been at the stage where the thinness of a laptop is dictated by an ethernet port (or, even worse in the case of most Windows laptops, a VGA port) for some time now. Apple just changed that.

And meanwhile, all video projectors around still use VGA, forcing Apple users who do Powerpoint presentations to deal with an annoyingly overpriced MiniDP-VGA adapter that is way too easy to lose.

Dropping frequently used connectivity for the sake of extra thinness can certainly be justified, but it is always a trade-off.

Do you own a smartphone or tablet? Do you feel like it needs to have an ethernet port?

I don't do nearly as much on a smartphone or a tablet as I do on a reasonably large laptop, due to screen estate limitations. Do you ?

Yes, yes it does take up space. We have been at the stage where the thinness of a laptop is dictated by an ethernet port (or, even worse in the case of most Windows laptops, a VGA port) for some time now. Apple just changed that.

You're falling for a stupid aesthetic trick. If you actually look at it, this new MB is perfectly thick enough to accommodate RJ45 or VGA - but, Apple makes it with "slick" tapering edges, so people like you can fall into perceiving it as more thin that it really is...

Neolander will be able to carry just as thin laptop that can straightforwardly connect to projectors - just one more sensibly designed here and there.